Welcome to the Old Catholic Church

A journey into Spirituality

Differentiationis to beunique

Communionis to berelated

Autopoiesisis to be acenter of activity

Oratory of the Common Life

affliated with

The OLD CATHOLIC CHURCH - de Landis Berghes succession

is a branch of the Old Catholic community in the United States of America with an active presence in Alabama, Florida, Minnesota, and New York. We also have relations with several other communities throughout Central, North and South America as well as the Carribean basin. This part of the Catholic Church encourages formal and informal relations with other branches of the Church as well as with other religious bodies. Ecumenical outreach is one of the mission goals. The Oratory centers most of its activity upon caring for the disenfranchised, forgotten and rejected in society without regard to religious affiliation or non-affiliation as the case may be.

Our community is a direct descendent of the European (Utrecht Union) Old Catholic community through bishop Arnold H. Mathew and bishop Rudolph de Landis Berghes (Apostle to the Americas); however, we are not members of the Utrecht Union of Churches. We strive to gain "reconciliation" among Old Catholics throughout the world and in particular with the Utrecht Union as well as with the Anglican Communion. . The Apostolic lines of succession in addition to origination from the Archdiocese of Utrecht (Old Catholic / Utrecht Union) also derive from Anglican, Orthodox and Roman sources. These have been reviewed by Catholic scholars (Yves Marie Joseph Cardinal Congar among others) and pronounced a "valid succession of orders" and a "valid transfer of powers". The Oratory of the Common Life is affirming, inclusive and welcoming.

"Old Catholic" is a way of being "catholic" and practicing the "catholic faith". Whereas, the Utrecht Union (Old Catholic) and its partner, the Anglican Communion (Anglican), are ways of governing the affairs of particular "catholic" communities. There are other ways of governing besides these two. The "Old Catholic Church", therefore, is composed of communities that embrace, in matters of faith: 1) christian scriptures; 2) the teachings of the early church fathers and mothers; 3) the guidance of the seven (7) ecumenical councils; and 4) the canons of the Council of Trent in so far as these do not contradict the preceeding three.

The "Common Life" communities of the Late Middle Age period in the Netherlands were most assuredly centered on the "House Church" and were the predessor of the modern "House Church" movement. At that time the concept was called "Devotio Moderna", Latin for "Modern Devotion". This development in Western christianity happened coincidental to the Reformation Era and in fact many of the Reforming Churches developed from this "Common Life" idea. The Old Catholic experience has its roots among the "House Churches" that formed in the Netherlands during the Reformation period of Western Europe when the reformers forbade any High Church (liturgical) expression. The Catholics of the Netherlands were forced to retreat into "House Churches" in order to hide their religious practices. For a more detailed outline of the Old Catholics see: A Brief Background and History Statement.

The Oratory of the Common Life patterns itself along the lines of the Common Life Communities that developed in the Low Countries. While each Oratory has at its core the Imitation of Christ and daily readings (breviary), it also has its own particular charism derived from the talents and characteristics of the members and the challenges of the locality. Membership is open to all who come in peace regardless of church affiliation. There are no vows as are found among the traditional religious communities. Members must only obey the rule of the community: in all things be moderate; differentiation is to be unique; communion is to be related; autopoiesis is to be a center of activity. Due to this absense of vows in the traditional sense, the Oratory of the Common Life is not a mendicant order. Members work for their daily bread.

While there are no classes of membership in the Oratory of the Common Life, we embrace the need for Holy Orders (Apostolic Succession) to be a sacramental community. Whether already ordained or seeking ordination, we require that a candidate complete our formation program which you can access here: Formation Program. After reading our formation outline, those who are interested in exploring the formation program further are encouraged to contact the formations director: Formations

To make further inquiry about the Old Catholics or the Oratory of the Common Life, please click here:
OCL Information

If you are in the area of any of our Oratory please do contact us; we really would like to talk with you. If you do not see an Oratory listed for your area and would like to start one please contact us through the formation director (noted above) or through the web page of any of our existing Oratory. It is not necessary to be ordained to organize an Oratory. Talk to us about your idea; we might be able to help.

Below are links to academic works that pertain both to the Old Catholics and the Oratory of the Common Life. These readings are part of our formation program.

We hope you find the references useful in your journey.

Reading Materials

On the World Wide Web:

Note: these are links to other documents on the web.
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Old Catholic Church of America: Old Catholicism in the New World; Holman, John E.; 1977.

Bishops at Large; Anson, Peter Fredrick, 1965.

The Old Catholic Church and Reunion; Moss, C. B.; 1927.

This organization also reserves the names: the Old Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht, the Old Catholic Diocese of Lousiana, the Old Catholic Diocese of Mississippi, the Old Catholic Diocese of Alabama, the Old Catholic Diocese of Pennsylvania, the Old Catholic Diocese of Delaware, the Old Catholic Diocese of New Jersey, the Old Catholic Diocese of Texas, the Old Catholic Diocese of Missouri, the Old Catholic Diocese of Maryland, the Old Catholic Diocese of Minnesota, the Old Catholic Diocese of Wisconsin, the Old Catholic Diocese of Florida and the Old Catholic Diocese of North Carolina. Use of these names without permission is a copyright infringement.

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